Israel marks Holocaust memorial day

Holocaust survivor Albert Garih has recounted his difficult experience during World War II countless times. But as the 76-year-old ages, he acknowledges he doesn't have much longer to share his powerful story.
Video provided by AFP
AFP

Holocaust survivor Avraham Har Shalom, right, lights a torch with his granddaughter at the opening ceremony of the 'Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day' at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial, in Jerusalem on April 15, 2015.(Photo: Abir Sultan, EPA)

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israelis have come to a mournful, two-minute standstill as sirens pierced the air in remembrance of the 6 million Jews killed in the Nazi Holocaust during World War II.

Israel's annual Holocaust memorial day, marked Thursday, is one of the most solemn on the nation's calendar.

As the siren sounded, cars and buses pulled over on the side of highways and roads. Motorists stepped out of their cars and pedestrians stopped in their tracks, bowing their heads as they remembered those who perished.

Melancholic music and interviews with Holocaust survivors are filling the airwaves while TV stations show documentaries about the genocide.

Ceremonies are held around the country. Names of those killed are read out at parliament later in the day.

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A girl with an Israeli national flag walks between the barbed wire fences at Auschwitz-Birkenau, a former World War II Nazi death camp, during the March of the Living event on April 16 in Oswiecim, Poland.Ten thousand people participate in the annual march to commemorate Holocaust Martyr's and Heroes Remembrance Day, honoring 6 million Jews who perished during World War II. JANEK SKARZYNSKI, AFP/Getty Images

Moshe Eshkenazi, center, tells Israeli border police officers the story of his grandfather, Moshe Pesach, rabbi of the Jewish community in Volos, Greece, who saved more than 1,000 Jews during World War II during a ceremony in the Forest of the Martyrs near Moshav Kesalon, Israel. Oded Balilty, AP

Israelis stand outside their vehicles as a siren wails for two minutes on a highway in Tel Aviv. Israel comes to a complete standstill as the siren sounds, honoring 6 million Jews who perished at the hands of the Nazis during World War II. Jim Hollander, European Pressphoto Agency

A relative of Holocaust survivors places flowers on the name of a concentration camp at the Hall of Remembrances at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial complex in Jerusalem. Abir Sultan, European Pressphoto Agency